World Headlines: Everything you need to know about today's storm

First Up

By Manuela Vega

Good morning. Here’s the latest on the winter storm coming to Toronto today, the inside story of COP15 and grocery giants’ ever-inflating profits.

DON’T MISS

Andrew Francis Wallace/The Star

weather

Toronto is bracing for a winter storm

Expect rain, followed by a rapid plunge in temperatures, snow and gusting winds today, Toronto. Forecasters have been warning all week of an aggressive winter storm headed for the city while Environment Canada has urged people to reconsider holiday travel plans. By Saturday morning, the agency has said, wind gusts in Toronto will reach up to 90 km/h and there will be five to 15 centimetres of snow. Schools have shuttered their doors and warming centres have opened, Christine Dobby reports. Here’s what else you need to know.

Watch for: “Gusts combined with the snow could cause blowing snow in the afternoon and that’s going to reduce the visibility,” Meteorologist Gerald Cheng said.
Context: Hearing about a “weather bomb” and “flash freeze”? Here’s a breakdown of winter storm terms.
The latest: The TTC has taken 41 stops out of service, GTA schools are closed and flights are being cancelled. Follow live updates right here.

Canadian Press/Paul Chiasson

climate

Canada and China in charge. Nature on the line. What could go wrong?

The stakes of the COP15 conference in Montreal were high, with experts describing it as a last-ditch opportunity to arrest nature’s collapse — and avoid the extinction of millions of animals, and the fouling of food, water and air needed for humans to survive. But pandemic disruptions left China and Canada steering the conference earlier this month, Alex Ballingall reports, though relations between the two countries were at their iciest. In the end, the two found ways to keep pushing to finalize what turned out to be a “transformational” deal for the planet. This is the inside story of how the historic pact came to be.

Go deeper: The agreement codifies the role of Indigenous peoples as primary stewards of conservation, and hints at how international nature funding could be a forum for reparations for colonialism.
More: When the deal was done, a delegate from China stopped Steven Guilbeault, Canada’s environment minister. “Merci beaucoup,” the delegate said in his best French — a “touching” gesture, Guilbeault said in an exclusive interview with the Star.

R.J. Johnston/The Star

economy

Supermarkets continue to increase profits on the back of inflation, data shows

Inflation blows — unless you’re one of the country’s big three supermarket chains. Amid soaring food prices, shoppers have been forced to spend more on groceries and are increasingly seeking help at food banks. But a new Star analysis has found that Loblaw, Empire (Sobeys) and Metro are doing better than most; the chains have all reported even bigger profits and profit margins than they did six months ago, and have made almost $1 billion more in gross profit over the past year than they would have if their profit margins had stayed where they were before the first pandemic lockdown in 2020, Marco Chown Oved reports. Though the grocery giants say they’re raising prices only to pass along the increased costs from their suppliers, their financial reports paint a different picture — take a look.

Go deeper: “A combination of supply disruptions, consumer desperation and corporate pricing power has allowed them to increase profits to never-before-seen levels,” one economist said.
By the numbers: Grocery inflation hit a 41-year-high of 11.4 per cent in November. Grocery prices are now rising faster than everything else, except gas.
ICYMI: The Competition Bureau launched a study of the grocery sector to investigate higher prices, noting the study is not a law-enforcement investigation.

WHAT ELSE

Here’s what Martin Regg Cohn says he got wrong about Doug Ford.

Want to avoid COVID, RSV and the flu this Christmas? Here’s doctors’ advice.

A Toronto senior spent years begging Canada Post to bring back her mailbox. Then, it was it moved farther away.

DNA found in this cold murder case is the victim pointing to the attacker “from the grave,” the Crown says.

This is the awful truth about the celeb weight-loss drug Ozempic.

This is what Canada’s new electric-vehicles plan will — and won’t — accomplish.

Two-thirds of Canadians oppose increasing police budgets, so why are they still growing? Take a closer look at the disconnect.

Women have taken to Kabul’s streets to protest being barred from universities — facing arrests and beatings from the Taliban.

Advocates for Scarborough’s historic Guild Inn say the management company is breaking the terms of its lease.

This Blue Jays fan gave Aaron Judge’s home run ball to a nearby kid. What happened next was “unbelievable.”

A culture writer learned how to do a stunt flip on a movie set in Burlington. Take a peek at the preparation that goes into your favourite action movies.

These are the top films of 2022 and how to watch them — plus three stinkers to avoid.

GET THIS

Cameron Tulk/Toronto Star Graphic

Approvals to hire temporary foreign workers are soaring. Is worker abuse growing too?

CLOSE-UP

Lance McMillan/The Star

THE JUNCTION: Gino Benevenga slings pinsas in his restaurant, Venga Cucina. You can call them pizzas, but he insists they’re pinsas. The Toronto restaurant is giving pizza an ancient, delicious makeover.

Thank you for reading. You can reach me and the First Up team at firstup@thestar.ca. We’re taking a little break this weekend, but Ashley will see you back here Monday morning.

Happy holidays from all of us at First Up. Have a safe and warm weekend.

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